to giue credite to some things which seeme for their strangenes fabulous as that which Pliny writeth alleadging Damates in his chronicle where he saith that Pictorius Prince of the Epiorians liued 300. yeeres Xenophon affirmeth that a King of the Maritimes had 600. yeeres of age and a Sonne of his 800 But Pliny iesteth thereat saying that this computation of yeeres ages was made through ignorance of times for in those dayes many reckoned the Sommer for one yeere and the Winter for another others made them shorter reckoning the Spring for one and the Autumne for another so that one of our yeeres cōtaineth as much as foure of theyrs So counted the Arcadians and the Egyptians made a yeere of euery month from one coniunction of the Moone to another so that it is no maruaile if they say that some of them liued a 1000. yeeres and more And if that K. of Maritimes liued 600. and his sonne 800. yeeres I vvarrant you it was according to this account so that in fine it seemeth that the longest age of a man cannot extend aboue a 150. or a 160. yeares and so long sayth Mucianus they liue that inhabite the top of the mountaine Timoli BER Alexander in his 24. chapter of his third booke De diebus Genialibus entreateth at large of this computation of yeeres made by the Auncients in the which they were so diuers different that we had neede of a whole day to repeate theyr varieties being many more then those which Plinie rehearseth but he speaketh like a good Phylosopher conforming himselfe to that which is likeliest and restrayning the limits of Nature as a thing onely of it selfe and not borne created and conserued in the will and minde of God as writeth Leuinus Lemnius alleadged by you in the beginning of this our discourse guyding our selues according to which these misteries are not so hard to be beleeued for that of Nestor is since the first ages neyther is it held for fabulous whom as the Poet Naso vvryteth liued 300. yeares But leauing these Auncients let vs come to certaine secrets of Nature of later times of which if Plinie had had knowledge hee woulde not so much haue wondred at those long liues neyther haue helde them for fabulous First therefore I will begin with that which Uelasco de Taranta writeth of an Abbesse which was in the Monastery of Monuiedro who hauing accomplished the age very neere of a 100. yeeres nature that went in her fayling declining recouered of a suddaine in such sort vertue vigour and force that her flowers which in long and many yeres before she had not felt began to come downe euen as when she was in the prime of her youth and withall her teeth tussles which through age were fallen out began to bud and growe out anew her grey hayres waxed by the rootes black casting off by little and little theyr hoarines her face waxed fayre full fresh blood filling out the olde riuels and wrinckles her breasts rose and increased and to be short shee became as young and fresh in sight as she was at 30. yeeres in such sort that diuers with wonderfull admiration comming to see her shee procured to hide herselfe and not to be seene beeing ashamed of the strange alteration and newnes which shee perceaued in herselfe and though hee remembred not to write those yeares which she lyued afterwards yet it is to be imagined that they were many LV. I will not wonder at this because I my selfe haue knowledge of two the like wherof the one is that being in Rome the yeare 1531. the publique voice and fame throughout all Italy was that there was in Taranto an olde man of a 100. yeares that had turned young againe changing all that euer he had in him euen to his skin and the very nayles of his feete and hands of which dispoyling himselfe like a Snake hee grew so newe and fresh and became so young and frolick that his very familiars knew him not and in the end for it was well 50. yeares past that this had hapned to him he turned to be so old againe that his colour properly resembled the roote of a vvithered tree The other vvas which is most true and assured that the Admirall Don Fadriques passing in his youth through a Village called Rioia encountred a man of the age as it seemed of fiftie yeares who tolde him that hee had beene footeman to his Grandfather vvhich the Admirall making difficultie to beleeue because his Grandfather was dead long and many yeeres agone the other with othes assured him that it was true and vvithall told him that he was at that present a hundred yeeres old and that he had turned to be young againe changing his nature and renuing in him all things that caused age The Admirall astonished at thys myracle made diligent enquiry therof and found by infallible proofes the trueth to be in each poynt according as he had sayd and this is by the vulgar fame and by infinite witnesses that were present notoriously known to be true AN. I will not deny but that all this which you haue sayd is possible seeing that there is in this present time of ours a matter more strange and miraculous publique and of vndoubted truth written by Herman Lopes de Castaneda Chronicler to the King of Portugall of a man brought to Nunnes de Acuna being Vizroy and Gouernour in India the yeare 1530. a thing truly most worthy of admiration for it was by sufficient witnesses indubitable profes affirmed to be true that hee had at that time accomplished the full age of 340. yeeres He remembred when that Citty was vnpeopled beeing one of the chiefest most important strengths of all India he had 4 times being old renued to youth each time casting of his hoary haires and riueled wrinckles and sheading his rotten teeth in place of which fresh and new arised and at such time as the Vizroy sawe him the hayres of his head were black and those of his beard also though hee had there but few A Phisition being present was bid feele his pulses the which were found to be as lusty as though he had beene in the flower and prime of his youth This man in his youth had been a Gentle and afterwards turned to embrace the erronious beleefe of the Moores hee was naturall of the Kingdome of Hungarie hee confessed that in his time he had had seuen hundred wiues of which some died some he had forsaken The King of Portugall had notice of this man kept reckoning of him and the Armies that came yeerelie from thence brought him tydings that hee lyued and liueth as yet as they that come thence say so that he must now haue 370 yeres The selfe same chronicler also writeth that at such time as the selfe Nunnes de Acuna gouerned there was in the cittie of Vengala another Moore named Xegueor natiue of a Prouince called Xegue
remedy for a disease so vneurable as this is accounted to be LU. Seeing we are in thys discourse of byrthes it were not amisse that we knewe in what space a woman may beare child so that the same may liue and be accounted lawful AN. This matter hath been handled by many authors which giue vs light herein The Lawiers say that in the 7 month taking therof some dayes away and in the tenth month likewise the birth may be called lawfull as one of their digests beginning septimo mense and diuers other declareth and Iustinianus in his Autentick of restitutions The Philosophers and Phisitions debate thereof more at large Pliny sayeth that the child borne in the eighth moneth may liue which is directly against the experience we haue and the opinion we generally hold thereof for we see that those children doe not liue which are borne in the seauenth moneth vnlesse they are borne iust at the time complet hee holdeth besides that the birth of eleuen moneths is lawfull and so hee sayeth that the mother of Suillius Rufus was deliuered of him at the end of eleuen moneths Other Philosophers haue held opinion that a woman may goe with child till the thirteenth moneth but to rehearse all their opinions were neuer to make an end he that seeketh to be satisfied heerein may reade Aristotle Aulus Gellius and many more Authors Phisitions which intreate copiously thereof it is sufficient for vs that wee haue said so much in a matter which we haue so sildome occasion to know or vnderstand BER This matter in truth is fitter for Phisitions to discourse of then for vs but in the meane time I would faine know what these Hermophrodites are vvhich I heard Signior Ludouico euen now say were so common to the Aegiptian women LV. This matter is so common that there is scarsely any one ignorant but that there are often children borne with two natures the one of a man the other of a woman though diuers times the one of so slender force and weake that it serueth not for other then to shewe what Nature can doe when she pleaseth but some there are though rare which are as fully puissant in the one nature as in the other of the first sort I knew a married woman my selfe which it was well knowne had also the nature of a man but without any force or effect though in her countenance and iesture there appeared a kind of manlines of the other sort also there are diuers and amongst the rest there was one in Burgos who beeing commaunded to choose whether nature she would exercise the vse of the other being forbidden her vpon paine of death made choise of that of the feminine sort but afterwards being accused that she secretly vsed the other vnder colour therof committed great abhomination she was found guilty and burned AN. I haue heard that there was another the like burned in Seuilia for the selfe same cause but in these parts we hold it for a great wonder that men should haue the nature of vvomen or women of men Yet Pliny alleadgeth the Philosopher Califanes which was with Alexander Magnus in his conquest of the Indies who sayth that amongst the Nasamans there is a people called Androgini who are al Hermophrodites and vse in their embracements without any difference as wel the one nature as the other But we would scarcely beleeue this being so vnlikely were it not confirmed by Aristotle which saith that these Androgins haue the right teate like a man the left with which they nourish their babes like a vvoman BER This matter seemeth vnto me very nevv strange neither doe I remember that euer I heard the like but there are so many things in the vvorld aboue our capacity that I hold it not impossible especially being affirmed for true with the authority of so graue authors though me thinks this Country must needes be very farre from those which are now of late discouered in India LV. I cannot choose but merualie much hereat and I beleeue that it is some influence or constellation or else the property of the Country it selfe which ingendreth the people in such sort as we see other Countries bring forth people of diuers complexions qualities conditions But now seeing we haue so long discoursed of births as wel cōmon natural as vnnatural rare it were not amisse if we said somwhat of such as are prodigious monstrous so far beyond that wonted order and rule of Nature which she is accustomed to obserue AN. It is true that there hath been seene diuers births admirable monstrous which either proceed frō the wil and permission of God in whose hands all things are or els throgh some causes and reasons to vs not reuealed though many of them by coniectures tokens com afterwards to be discouered which though they perfectly cōclude not the demonstration of the true cause yet giue they vs a great liklihood apparance to gesse thereat It is a thing naturall to all children to giue a turn in their mothers belly to come into the world with the head forwards yet this generall rule oftentimes faileth some come forth thwartlong some with their body double neither of the which can liue their body is so crusht and broken the mothers also of such are in exceeding danger Others come to be borne with their feet forward which is also passing dangerous as well for the mother as the child vnlesse they chaunce to come foorth with their armes hanging down close by their sides vvhich if they hold vpward or croswise they crush them or put them out of ioynt so that fevve such liue Of these cam the linage of Agrippas in Rome which is as much to say as Aegrè parti brought forth in paine and cōmonly those that are so borne are held to be vnlucky of short life Some say that Nero was so borne of his mother Agrippina who though he seemed in obtaining the Empire to be fortunate yet in losing it so soon with a death so infamous his end proued him vnfortunate miserable It happeneth also sometimes that the mothers die and that the children by opening their sides are taken out aliue come to liue doe vvell Of these was Scipio Affrican which was therfore the first that was called Caesar another Romaine Gentleman called Manlius as Pliny vvriteth in his seauenth booke BER It is a matter so true notorious that there is no dout to be made therof which we read in the chronicles of Spaine of the birth of Don Sanches Garcia king of Nauarre vvhose mother Donna Ursaca being at a place called Baruban to take her pleasure in the fields vvas by certaine Mores which of a sodaine came thither to spoile and make booty thrust into the body vvith a speare in such sort that the babe vvith which she went great appeared out of the wound as though
he vvould faine come foorth she her selfe liuing in pittifull extreamity and painfully gasping for life vvhich her seruants perceauing opened the wound a little more and tooke the Infant out causing him to be nourished the which prospered so vvel that he aftervvards cam to attaine the royall Diademe and raigned many yeeres And not much before our time a Gentleman called Diego Osorio of the house of Astorgo vvas borne in the selfe same manner but they tooke so little heede in cutting of his mothers belly that they gaue him a slash on the legge of which hee remained euer after lame and liued manie yeeres AN. Children to be borne toothed is a thing so common that we haue seene it often amongst the Auncients as Pliny and Soline writeth were Papinus Carbo and Marcus Curius Dentatus I can giue good testimony heereof my selfe as an eye witnes of some that haue been borne with teeth and that with those before vvhereby we may the better beleeue the antiquity LV. Some Greeke Authors write that Pirrhus King of the Epirotes in steede of teeth was borne with a hard massie bone onely one aboue and another beneath And Herodotus vvriteth that in Persia there vvas a whole linage that had the like Caelius Rodiginus in the beginning of his fourth booke de antiquis lectionibus bringeth for author Io. Mochius vvhich affirmeth that Hercules had three rowes of teeth which is passing strange but no doubt there haue happened many miraculous things in the vvorld vvhich for want of vvriters haue not come to our knowledge and if we could see those things which happen in other Countries we should not so much vvonder at these of which we novv speake neither neede we goe farre to seeke them for wee shall finde enough euen in our Europe and Countries heere abouts BER I will tell you vvhat I saw in a Towne of Italy called Prato seauen or eight miles off from Florence a child new borne vvhose face was couered with a very thick beard about the length of ones hand white and fine as the finest threeds of flaxe that might be spunne which when he came to be two moneths old began to fall off as it had peeld avvay through some infirmity after which time I neuer savv him more neither knovv I what became of him LV. And I once savv a little vvench which was borne with a long thick haire vpon the chine of her backe and so sharpe as if they had beene the brisles of a vvild Boare so that shee must continually euer after keepe it cut short or othervvise it hurt her vvhen shee cloathed her selfe AN. These are things vvherein Nature seemeth not farre to exceede her accustomed order Let vs therefore come to thē that are more strange and of greater admiration Pliny writeth that there was a woman called Alcippa deliuered of an Elephant and another of a Serpent besides he writeth that he saw himselfe a Centaure brought to the Emperour Claudius in hony to keepe him from putrefaction which was brought forth by a woman of Thessalia Besides these there are manie other such like thinges reported by vvise and graue Authors that such as neuer heard of them before vvould be astonished at theyr strangenes LVD And thinke you that this age and time of ours yeeldeth not as many strange and vvonderfull things as the antiquitie did Yes vndoubtedly doth it vvere vve so carefull to registre and to commit them to memory as they were I will tell you one of the which I am a witnesse my selfe of a woman that hauing had a very hard trauaile in the which she was often at the poynt of death at last was deliuered of a child and withall of a beast whose fashion was lyke vnto a Firret which came foorth with his clawes vpon the childes brest and his feete entangled within the childs legges both one and the other died in few houres BER Wee see and heare daily of many things like vnto these and besides we haue seene women in steede of chyldren bring forth onelie lumpes of flesh which the Phisitions call Moles I haue seene my selfe one of the which a woman was deliuered of the fashion of a great Goose-neck at one end it had the signe of a head vnperfectly fashioned and the woman told me that when it came into the world it moued and that therfore they had sprinkled water vpon it vsing the words of Baptisme In engendring of these things Nature seemeth to shewe herselfe weake and faint and perchance the defect heereof might be in the Father or mother the imperfection of whose seed was not able to engender a creature of more perfection AN. Your opinion herein is not without some reason but withall vnderstande that there may bee aswell therein supersluitie which corrupting it selfe in steede of engendring a child engendreth these other creatures which you haue rehearsed as the Elephant the Centaure and the rest but the likeliest is that they are engendred of corrupted humors that are in the womans body vvhich in time wold be the cause of her death in steed of which Nature worketh that vvhich Aristotle saith in his Booke De communi animalium gressu that Nature forceth her alwaies of things possible to doe the best and vvhen she can create any thing of these corrupted humors whereby she may preserue lyfe shee procureth to doe it as a thing naturall LU. The one and the other may wel be true but yet in my iudgement there is another reason likelier then eyther of them both which is that all these thinges or the most part of them proceede of the womans imagination at the time of her conception For as Algazar an auncient Philosopher of great authority affirmeth The earnest imagination hath not onely force and power to imprint diuers effects in him which imagineth but also may worke effect in the things imagined for so intentiuely may a man imagine that it rayneth that though the wether were faire it may become clowdy raine indeed and that the stones before him are bread so great may be the vehemency of his imagination that they may turne into bread BE. I beleeue the miracle which Christ made in turning water into wine but not these miraculous imaginations of Algazar which truly in mine opinion are most ridiculous AN. In exteriour things I neuer sawe any of these miracles yet Aristotle vvriteth in his ninth Booke De animalibus that the Henne fighting with the Cocke and ouercomming him conceaueth thereof such pride that shee lyfteth vp her crest and tayle imagining that shee is a Cocke and seeking to tread the other Hennes vvith the very imagination whereof she cōmeth to haue spurres But leauing thys let vs come to Auicenna for in thys matter we cannot goe out of Doctors and Philosophers whose opinion in his seconde Booke is that the imagination of the minde is able to work so mightie a change in naturall things that it hapneth oftentimes
by Nature the which is that from theyr birth they are so parted and deuided that they seeme to be double so that they vse them diuersly and in one instant pronounce different reasons and which is more they counterfet also the voyce of the birdes and fowles of the ayre but which is of other most admirable they speake with two men at once to one with the one part and to the other vvith the other part of the tongue and demanding of the one they aunswere to the other as though the two tongues were in two seuerall mouthes of two sundry men The ayre is al the yeare long so temperate in this Iland that as the Poet writeth the Peare remaineth on the Peare-tree the Aple on the Aple-tree and the Grapes vppon the Vine without withering or drying The day and night are alwaies equall the Sunne at noone dayes maketh no shadow of any thing They liue according to their kindreds to the number of 500. in company together They haue no houses not certaine habitations but fieldes and Medowes The earth without tillage yeeldeth thē aboundant store of fruites for the vertue of the Iland and the temprature of theyr climate maketh the earth being of it selfe fertile passing fruitfull yea more then enough There grow many Canes yeelding great store of white seedes as bigge as Pidgions eggs which gathering and making wette with hote water they then let dry which being done they grinde it and make thereof bread wonderfully sweet and delectable They haue sundry great Fountaines of the which some are of hote water most wholesome to bathe in and to cure infirmities others to drinke most sweete and comfortable They are all much addicted to Sciences and principally they are curious in Astrologie they vse 28. letters and besides them other 7. Characters euery one of the which they interprete 4. wayes for the signification of theyr meaning All of them for the most part liue very long cōmonly till the age of a 150. yeres and for the most part without any sicknesse And if there be any one that is diseased with a long infirmitie he is by the law constrained to die In like sort when they come to a certaine age which they account complete they willingly kill themselues They write not like vnto vs for theyr line commeth from aboue downeward There is in that Ilande a kinde of hearbe vpon which all those that lay themselues downe dye sleeping as it were in a sweet slumber The women mary not but are common to all men they all bring vp the children with equall affection oftentimes they take the children from their mothers and send them into other parts because they should not know thē the which they do to that end that there should be no particuler but equall loue affection amongst them they haue no ambition of honour or valour more one then another so that they liue in perpetuall agreement and conformity There are bred certaine great beasts of a meruailous nature and vertue in their bodies they are rounde like a Tortoys in the midst diuided with 2. lines athwart in the end of each of those halfes they haue 2. eyes and 2. hearings but one belly onely into the which the sustenance commeth as well from the one part as the other they haue many leggs and feet with the which they goe as well one way as another the blood of thys beast is of singuler vertue for diuers things what part soeuer of a mans body being cut and touched with this blood healeth presently There are in this Iland manie Foules and some of such greatnes that by them they make experience of theyr children setting them vp on theyr backs and making them flie vp into the ayre with them and if the laddes sitte fast vvithout any feare they account them hardy but if they tremble or seeme to be fearefull they bring them vp with an ill vvill reputing them simple of dull courage and of short life Amongst those kindreds which keepe alwayes companie together the eldest is King and gouernour to whom all the rest obey who when he commeth to the age of a hundred and fiftie yeares depriueth himselfe of life in whose place succeedeth without delay the eldest of that Trybe The Sea is rounde about thys Ilande very tempestuous The North-starre and many other starres which we see here cannot there bee discerned There are seauen other Ilands rounde about this in a manner as great with the selfe same people and conditions Though theyr ground be most fruitfull in all aboundance yet they liue most temperately and eate theyr victuals simple without anie composition separating from them those that vse anie arts in dressing their meats other then seething or vvasting each thing by it selfe They adore one onelie God the Creatour of all thinges vsing besides a peculiar kinde of reuerence to the Sunne and all the other celestiall thinges They are great Hunters and fishers There is great store of Wine and Oyle The trees grow of themselues without being planted The I le bringeth foorth great Serpents but hurtlesse whose flesh in eating is most sauorie and sweet Theyr garments are made of a certaine fine woll like Bombast which they take out of Canes which being dyed with a kinde of Sea Ore they haue becommeth of a most daintie colour like Purple They are neuer idle but stil employ themselues in good exercises spending many houres of the day singing hymnes vnto God and the other celestiall things whom they particulerly hold as mediators for theyr Iland They burie themselues on the Seashoare where the water may bayne their Sepulchres The Canes out of the which they gather theyr fruites grow and decrease with the mouing of the Moone Iambolo and his companion remained 7. yeares in this Iland they were driuen out vnwillingly and perforce as men that liued not according to theyr innocent customes and vertuous simplicitie so that putting them a great quantity of victuals in theyr boate made them goe aboard and cast off who hoysing vp theyr sailes after great tempests and dangers many times reputing themselues as dead lost men at last came to land in a part of India where they were by a certaine King gently entertained from whom afterward they were sent with a safe conduct into Persia and thence to Greece This is the selfe same which Iohn Bohemus writeth without adding or diminishing one word BER The thinges of this Iland are so strange that I can hardly beleeue them for mee thinkes they are like those fables which Lucian writeth in his booke De vera narratione yet Alexander of Alexandria confirmeth that of the Foules flying vp into the ayre with the children whose wordes are these There are certaine Ethiopians which set their children as they waxe great vpon certaine Foules which to that purpose they nourish of diuers sortes and making them mount vp with them into the ayre whereby they knowe what
These were indued both with strength and courage and through the vse thereof the one and the other accomplished great and worthy enterprises leauing behind them a fame glorious and euerlasting but there haue beene and as yet are sundry of rare and excellent strength which they haue employed and doe employ so ill that there is no memory nor reckoning made of them There was one not long since in Galicia called the Marshall Pero Pardo de Riba de Neyra who bearing great grudge to a certaine Bishop and finding no meanes to accomplish his reuengefull despite was contented to yeeld to the request of certaine that went betweene to make them friends at such time as they should meete together for the consummation of their attonement the Marshall went to embrace him but his embracing was in such sort that he wrung his guts out and crusht all his ribs to peeces leauing him dead betweene his armes LU. Hercules did no more when hee fought with Antheus whom he vanquished in the same manner though this act be so villainous especially hauing giuen security that it deserueth not to be spoken of There are besides at this day many trewants peasants and labourers of such accomplisht strength that if they employed it in worthy works they would winne thereby great estimation BER It is not sufficient to haue courage with this strength but they must be also fortunate for else they are soone dispatcht with a blow of a Canon yea and though it be but of a Harquebuz it is enough to abate the strongest man liuing and therefore they had rather liue in assurance dishonourable and obscure then with such ieopardy to seeke glory and fame But let vs returne to those that haue no thirst least we forget it It is a common thing that there are diuers men which bide fiue or sixe dayes without drinking especially if the victuals they eate be colde and moyst I knew a woman that made but a pastime to abstaine from drink eight or tenne dayes and I heard say that there should be a man in Medina del Campo I remember not well from whence he was that stayed vsually thirty or fourty dayes without drinking a drop and longer if it were in the fruite season for with eating thereof hee moystned so his stomacke that hee made no reckoning of drinke It vvas tolde mee for a truth that there was in Salamancha a Chanon of the same Church vvhich vvent to Toledo and returned being out xx dayes in all which time till he returned to his owne house hee neuer dranke any droppe of water or wine or any other liquor But that which Pontanus writeth in his booke of Celaestiall thinges causeth mee to wonder a great deale more of a man that in all his life time neuer drank at all which Ladislaus King of Naples hearing made hym perforce drinke a little vvater vvhich caused him to feele extreame payne and torment in his stomack I haue been told also by many persons worthy of credite that there is in Marsile neere to the Citty of Lyons at this present a man lyuing which is wont to continue three or foure monthes vvithout drinking without receauing thereby any discommoditie in his health or otherwise AN. There are many strange things reported about thys matter the cause wherof we will leaue to Phisitions who giue sufficient reasons whereby we may vnderstand how possible thys is which seemeth so farre to exceede the ordinary course of Nature BER If wee leaue thys purpose let vs returne to our former of strength for I was deceaued in thinking that the greater part thereof consisted in bignes of body members AN. If we should follow this rule we should oftentimes deceaue our selues for we finde many great men of little and slender force and manie little men of great and mightie puissance the cause whereof is that Nature scattereth and separateth more her vertue in great bodies then in lesser in which beeing more vnited and compacted it maketh them strong and vigorous and so saith Virgil. In a little body oftentimes the greatest vertue raignes LVD But we must not alwaies alowe this rule for true for we haue read and heard of many Giants whose wonderfull forces were equall with the largenes of theyr bodies BER For my part I thinke that thys matter of Gyants be for the most part feigned and though there haue beene great men yet were they neuer so huge as they are described for euerie one addeth that as he thinketh good Solinus writeth that it is by many Authors agreed that no man can passe the length of seuen foote of which measure it is saide that Hercules was Yet in the time of Aug. Caesar saith he there liued tvvo men Pusion and Secundila of which either of them had x. feete or more in length and theyr bones are in the Ossary of the Salustians and afterwards in the time of the Emperor Claudius they brought out of Arabia a man called Gauara nine foote and nine inches long but in a thousande yeeres before Augustus had not beene seene the like shape of men neither since the time of Claudius for in this our time who is it that is not borne lesse then his Father AN. If you mark it wel in the same chapter in which Solinus handleth this matter he sayth that the bones of Orestes were found in Tegoea which being measured were 7. cubits long which are more then 4. yardes according to the common opinion and yet this is no great disformity in respect of that which followeth Besides saith he it is written by the Antiquitie and confirmed by true witnesses that in the warres of Crete vpon an irruption of waters breaking vp the earth with the violent impesuositie thereof at the retreate thereof amongst many openings of the earth they found in one monument a mans body 33. cubites long Among the rest that went to see this spectacle so strange was Lucius Flacus the Legate and Metellus who beholding that with theyr eyes which otherwise they vvoulde not haue beleeued remained as men amazed Pliny also saith that a hill of Crete breaking there was founde the body of a man 45. cubits long the which some said was of Orion and others of Ocius And though the greatnes of these 2. bodyes be such that it seeme incredible yet farre greater is that of Antheus the which Anthoniê° Sabellicê° in his Aeneads saith was found in the citty of Tegaena at such time as Sartorius remained there Captain generall of the Romaine Army whose Sepulchre being opened and his bones measured the length of his carkas was found to be 70 cubits to confirme the possibility of this he addeth presently that a certaine host of his a man of good credit told him that being in Crete meaning to cut downe a certaine tree to make therewith the mast of a ship that selfe tree by chance was turned vp by the roote vnder the which was found a mans
head so incredibly great that it amazed the beholders but being rotten it fell in peeces the teeth still remaining whole of the which they carried one to Venice shewing it to those that desired the sight thereof as a thing wonderfull Frier Iacobê° Philippê° de Bergamo vvryteth in his Supplementum ChronicoruÌ„ that there vvas found a Sepulchre and in the same a body of admirable greatnesse outreaching as it were in length the high walls or buildings it seemed that he lay sleeping he had woundes vpon him well 4. foote wide at his bolster stoode a candle burning vvhich would not goe out till they bored a hole vnderneath then the light extinguished The body so soone as they touched it turned into powder ashes round about him were written in Greeke Letters these wordes Pallas sonne of Euander slaine by Turnus LUD You would wonder more at that which Sinforianus Campegius writeth in his Booke called Ortus Gallicus alleaging the authoritie of Ioh. Bocacius vvho affirmed to haue seene it himselfe that in Sicilia neere to the Citty of Trapana certaine Labourers diging for chalke vnder the foote of a hill discouered a Caue of great widenesse entring into the which with light they founde sitting in the midst therof a man of so monstrous hugenes that astonished therwith they fled to the vilage reporting what they had seen at last gathering together in great number with weapons torches they returned back to the Caue where they found this Giant whose like was neuer hearde of before in his left hand hee held a mighty staffe so great and thicke as a great maste of a ship seeing that he stirred not they tooke a good hart drew neere him but they had no sooner layde theyr hands vpon him but he fel into ashes the bones onely remayning so monstrous that the very skull of his head held in it a bushell of Wheat and his whole carkas beeing measured was found to be a 140. cubits long AN. It is necessary to alleage many Authors to giue credit to a thing so far out of all limits of reason the like of which hath neuer been seene or written of in the world which if it be true I would thinke it shoulde be some body buried before the floode For in the first age I take it that men vvere farre greater then they are nowe but since the Deluge neyther Nemrod neither anie of those that helped builde the Tower of Babilon neither any other Giant whatsoeuer hath approched any thing neer this monstrous and excessiue hugenes of stature LVD You haue reason but what shall we say thereto when we find it written by such authorized Authors gyuing vs the testimony of antiquity let vs therefore passe on with them returne to that which Sinforian sayd that hee saw himselfe by Valencia in a Cloyster of Grey-friers the bones of a Giant according to the greatnes of which by good Geometry the length of the body could bee no lesse then fortie foote Hee alleageth also Iohn Pius of Bononia which sayth that he sawe in a Towne on the Sea-side neere vnto Vtica or Carthage a tussle of a mans head which if it had been broken in peeces would haue made a hundred such tussles as men now liuing commonlie haue and of the selfe same tussle maketh S. Augustine mention in his booke of the Citty of God BER Many things like vnto these haue beene founde in times past which for my part beeing by such men confirmed I account woorthy of beleefe AN. There want not testimonies to giue them credite if wee will looke into Antiquities we shall finde in the holy Scripture that of Nemrod and those other Gyants of which Signior Ludouico nowe spake who after Noes-flood builded that high Tower to saue them selues in if such another shoulde happen to come or according to the Gentiles opinion to make warre with the Gods and all these in respect of men that now liue were sayd to be of a wonderfull and huge stature and comming vnto other ages neerer vnto ours that which is written of S. Christopher and confirmed by authoritie of the Romaine Church is notorious to all men where we finde that his proportion stature was little lesse then these aboue named Besides I haue heard diuers that haue been in the Monastery of Ronces valles affirme that there are certaine bones of those which as they say were slaine in the battaile wherein Charles the great was ouerthrowne by the King Don Alonso de Leon vvhere many of the twelue Peeres of Fraunce through the great valiantnes of Bernardo del Carpio ended their liues the vvhich bones are so great that they seeme to be of some Gyants a Frier that brought the measure of one of theyr shin-bones shewed it me it was in my iudgement as great as that of three men now a dayes but in this I referre me to those that haue seene them who told me also that there were some armours so great and heauy that they might well serue for a testimony of the greatnes of those bodies which ware them AN. This which you haue sayd agreeth with that which Iosephus writeth in his fift booke of Antiquities There was saith he a linage of Gyants which for the greatnes of their body and proportion different from other men were aboue measure wonderfull of which there are yet some bones to be seene not to bee beleeued of those which haue not viewed them And in time of Pope Iulio the third no longer agone there was a man in a Village of Calabria who perchance is yet aliue of so extraordinary a sise and stature that the Pope desirous to see him sent for him to Rome who because neither Horse nor Mule was able to carry him was brought to Rome in a Coach out of the which his legs from the knees downward hanged foorth he was so high that the tallest man in Rome reached not to his halfe breast according to which height the rest of his members were proportioned it was a thing of admiration to see how deuouringly he eat drank A friend of mine asked him whether his parents were great he aunswered that both his parents and brothers were of the middle sort onely he had a sister as yet young which by all coniecture in time would be as great or greater then himselfe LV. I am of opinion that in times past the men were for the most part greater then they now are and that by little and little they decrease daily and whereas the Auncients write that men then exceeded not the measure of seauen feete in height that their feete were then greater then ours and their cubits inches spans and all their other measures also so that the longer the world lasteth the lesse shall the people waxe Wee may the better vnderstand this to be so through that which is written of the Gyant Golyas in the first booke of Kings that he was sixe cubits high which
that was also 300. yeeres old both by his lowne saying and the affirmation of those that knew him well besides other many great proofes and arguments thereof This Moore for the austeritie of his life and abstinence vvhich hee vsed was held amongst the rest for a very holie and religious man and the Portugals had great familiarity friendshippe vvith him For all thys though the Chronicles of Portugall are so sincere that there is nothing registred in them but with great fidelitie and approoued truth yet I should stagger in the beliefe of this were it not that there are so many both in Portugall and Spayne which are eye witnesses hereof and know it fully to be true BER And so trulie should I but that your proofe and information is not refutable for these ages are so long in respect of the shortnesse of ours that they bring with them incredible admiration and mee thinkes it is impossible that the first of these two shoulde haue had so many wiues AN. It being verified that hee liued so long this is not to be wondred at for the law both of Gentiles and Moores permitteth men to forsake their wiues and to take new as often as they please and so perchance this man was so fantasticall and peeuish that not contenting himselfe long with any he tooke it for a custome to put away his wiues as we doe seruants that please vs not And as they hold together as many wiues as they will though they bee not all called lawfull what letted him if he chopt changed some turning away taking new especially if he were so rich that he had meanes to maintaine many at once so that there is no such cause to wonder at any of these thinges for in the yeare 1147. in the time of the Emperor Conrad died a man which had serued Charles the great in his warres who as it was by inuinsible arguments proued had liued 340. yeeres and it agreeth with that which you haue sayd of this Indian whence Pero Mexia which writeth also the same tooke it Fascicuhis Temporum likewise maketh mention thereof All thys can he doe in whose hands Nature is shoutning lengthning lyues and ages as it pleased him but for my part I will neuer beleeue but that there are in these things some secrete mysteries which we neither conceiue nor vnderstand LU. Let vs take it as we find it without searching the profound iudgments of God who onely knoweth wherefore hee dooth it and in truth I dared not vtter as holding in for a thing fabulous that which I haue read in the xv booke of Strabo where he saith that those which dwel on the other side of the moūtaines Hyperbores towards the North many of them liued a 1000. yeares AN. I haue also read it but hee writeth the same as a thing not to be beleeued though he denieth not but that it may be possible that many of them liued very long but the likeliest is that in those Countries they deuide theyr yeeres according to the reckoning of which Pliny speaketh one into foure by which computation a thousand yeeres of theirs maketh 250. of ours and this differeth not much from the ages of other people and Nations which we haue rehearsed Yet Acatheus the Philosopher speaking of the mountaines Hyperbores sayeth that those which dwell on the farther side liue more yeeres then all the other Nations of the world Pomponius Mela also speaking of them in the third booke vseth these words vvhen they are weary of liuing ioyfull to redeeme themselues from the trauailes and miseries of life they throw themselues headlong into the Sea which they account the happiest death and fortunatest Sepulcher that may be how so euer many Authors of credite verifie theyr liues to be long BER It is said also that those of the Iland Thile according to the opinion of many now called Iseland liue so long that wearied with age they cause themselues to be conuaied into other parts to the ende that they may dye AN. I haue not seene any Author that writeth this it is like to be some inuention of the common people because those of that Iland liue very long euery one addeth what pleaseth him for as the desire to liue is a thing naturall to all men so how old so euer a man be he will in my opinion rather procure to defend and conserue his life then seeke occasion to finish or shorten the same This people being in the occident and according to the auncient vvriters the last Nation that is knowne that way participate with the Hiperboreans in fame of long life or perchaunce those which haue heard speake of Biarmio Superior the which as we will one day discourse is the last which is knowne of the other side of the Septentrion and of which are written many wonderfull matter chiefely of their long life without infirmity ending onely through extreamity of age the which many of them not attending voluntarily kill themselues thought that these men were vnder the selfe climate and hereof was the inuention of the Elysian fields which the Gentiles held to be in these parts But this being a matter that requireth long time we will now leaue it returne to our former discourse Truly if conforming our selues to reason we would well weigh the trauailes miseries vexations which in this wretched life we endure we should esteeme a short life far hapier then a long which we see beset with infinite troubles calamities endeuor so in this transitory life to serue God that we may come in glory to enioy that other which shal endure for euer BER Seeing we haue hetherto discoursed of so many particularities belonging vnto men let vs not forget one which is of no lesse mistery nor lesse worthy to be knowne then the rest which is of the Centaures or Archers to the ende wee liue not deceaued in that which is reported of thē for many Histories make mention of them though to say truth I neuer read any graue Author that affirmeth to haue seene them or stedfastly that they now are or at any other time haue been in the world which if they either be indeed or haue been they are not to be held for small wonders but for as great as euer haue been any in the world AN. Certainely this of the Centaures is but a Poetical fiction for if it were true it is not possible as you said but that som graue Author or other would haue written therof LV. Let vs yet know whence these fables had their beginning AN. Aske this of Eginius Augustus Libertus which in a booke of his entituled Palephatus de non credendis fabulis sayth that Ixion King of Thessalia brought a mighty Heard of Bulls and Cows to the mountain Pelius which being affrighted throgh some accident that happened scattered themselues flying into the Woods Valleys other vninhabited places out of which they
and debating a matter so pleasant and delectable though it were to no other end then to moue vs to seeke and aspire vnto that heauenly Paradice which this terestriall representeth vnto vs. AN. Well then seeing it so pleaseth you I will recite the opinions of such as vnderstand it better than I doe and you may thereof iudge that which seemeth most agreeing to our Catholique faith and to reason I will with the greatest breuity I may make you pertaker of that which I remember Many Diuines especially those which haue written vpon Genesis haue discoursed vpon this matter of earthly Paradice amongst whose opinions though there be some diuersity yet they shoote all at one marke though in the meane time it be some confusion to those which curiously procure to sift out the truth thereof But seeing their opinions are all Christianlike and of good zeale I account it no error in following eyther of them But leauing a while the Christians and Diuines let vs first see what was the old Philosophers opinion though it were at blindfold concerning Paradise and the place on earth where they thought it to be If wee take this name of Paradice generally it signifieth a place of delight and so sayeth Saint Hierome in his Translation that Heden in the Hebrew Text signifieth delight according to the 70. Interpreters which hauing said that God planted Paradice in the place of Heden turne presently to declare the same calling it a Garden of delight of these delightful places there are many in the worlde for their exceeding beauty and pleasantnes called by this name and so Casaneus alleadging Philippus Bergamensis the one very late the other not very auncient sayeth that there is one in the Oryent towards the side of Zephyrus and this hee thinketh to be the same of which we now speake another in the Aequinoctiall betweene the winds Eurus Euronotus the third betweene the tropick of Cancer and the circle of the South pole a fourth in the Orient on the other side of the Aequinoctiall where the Sunne scorcheth with so vehement heate a fifth at the Southerne pole of which he sayth that Solinus also maketh mention and as I take it it is in his discourse of those that dwell on the other side of the Hyperbores The sixth he placeth in the Occident and withall he alleadgeth that the Senate of Rome had made a decree that none should be chosen high Pontif vnlesse he were in the Garden of delights in the prouince of Italy But me reemeth that Casaneus Philippus reckoning vp such places as these are calling them paradices and taking the word so largely might haue found a great many more For Salomon also sayeth he maketh Gardens and paradices and planteth in them fruitfull trees And Procopius writeth of a paradice in a certaine part of Affrica whose wordes are these There was saith he builded a royall pallace by a King of the Vandales in the most delightfull paradice of all those that euer I haue seene for there were many delicious Fountaines of which it was bedewed and watered and the vvoods round about were continually most fragrant greene flourishing These paradices are vnderstood as I haue said to be all the purest pleasantest places of the earth refreshed with sweet gales temperate wholesome ayres though perchance also such as haue written of them haue added somwhat to the truth and as for those of which Phillip of Bergamo speaketh they are described in places so far distant from vs that it is almost vnpossible to know the truth The Gentiles likewise according to their fals sects opinions fained the Elisian fields to be paradice whether they imagined the soules of those that liued well to be transported after their death Which some dreamed to be in the prouince of Andaluzia in this our Spain because it is a plat most pleasant delectable Others held opinion that they were not any where else then in an Iland called Phrodisia consecrated to Venus neere vnto Thule which was the most delicious and comfortable place that might be found in the whole world which sodainly sinking into the Sea vanished was seen no more But the commonest opinion was that the Elisian fields were those which we now call the fortunate Ilands the enhabitants of which are saide to liue so long that they are held to be as it were immortall Plato in his fourth book called Phedon writeth that there is a place on the earth so high aboue the clouds that they cannot raine vpō the same neither though it be neere the region of the fire feeleth it any immoderate heate but that there is alwaies a temperature of aire most pure perfect in such sort that many are of opinion that al things grow there in greater fertility abundance then in any other part of the earth and that the men are of purer complexion longer life then we whose bodies are such that many think them to be formed the greater part of fire aire as for water and earth they participate thereof very little neither feed they of such fruits victuals as we doe heere but differ far from vs in customs alwaies enioy a perfect freshnes of youth These words rehearseth Caelius Rodiginus which were saith he of a man that went serching out the certaine knowledge of our faith who was not far of frō being a Christian if there had been any man to haue instructed him wherin he was found to say so of him I know not for Plato spake wrote many other things wherein he deserued the name of Diuine out of which greater argument may be taken then out of these words to iudge as he doth of him That agreeth very well with this of Plato which Lactantius Firmianus writeth in verse in a little Treatise of the Phaenix discoursing of that Country whether after shee hath burned her selfe in Arabia and turned to reuiue againe of a vvorme engendered in her owne ashes she taketh her flight to passe her life till such time as of necessity she must returne to renue her selfe againe His very words are these There is saith he in the farthest part of the East a blessed place where the high gate of the eternall pole is open it is neyther anoyed with the heate of the Sunne nor the colde of the Winter but there whence the Sunne sendeth discouereth to vs the day there are neyther high mountaines nor low Valleyes the fields are all flat in a great and pleasant Plaine which notwithstanding the euen leuell thereof is ten fadoms higher then the highest mountaine of ours There is a flourishing vvood adorned with many beautifull trees whose braunches and leaues enioy perpetuall greenes and at such time as through the ill guiding of the chariot and horses of the Sunne by Phaeton the whole world burned this place was vntouched of the flame and when Deucalions flood ouerwholmed the whole
world this remained free for the waters were not able to ouercome the height thereof There is neyther languishing disease painefull old age nor consuming death No feare no greefe no coueting of riches no battailing no raging desire of death or vengeance bereaueth their repose Sorrowfull teares cruell necessities and carefull thoughts haue there no harbour No frozen dewe toucheth their earth no misty cloude couereth their fieldes neyther doe the heauens poure into them anie troubled waters onely in the midst thereof they haue a Fountaine which they call Uiba cleare pure aboundant of sweet vvaters which once a moneth moystneth the whole vvood The trees therein are of a meruailous height hang alwaies full of fruit in this delicious Paradice liueth the Phaenix the onely one bird of that kinde in the world c. BER Lactantius praiseth this Country very largely neither agreeth his opinion ill with Platos But he speaketh heere like a Philosopher and not like a Christian though perchaunce if hee had beene asked his opinion like a Christian in what part of the world he thought terestriall Paradice to be hee would haue described it in like sort But leauing these Philosophers Paradices seeming rather to be fictions then worthy of credite tell vs I pray you what the Doctors and Diuines say heerevnto whose diligence study and care hath beene greater in procuring to vnderstand write the veritie thereof AN. I will in few words tell you what some of them and those of the greatest authority haue written on thys matter S. Iohn Damascene in his second booke chap. 2. saith these words God being to make Man to his owne image likenes and to appoint him as King and ruler of the whole earth and all therin contained ordained him a sumptuous royall being place in the which he might leade a blessed happy glorious life and this is that diuine Paradise planted by his owne omnipotent hands in Heden a place of all pleasure and delight for Heden signifieth a delightfull place and hee placed him in the Oryent in the highest and most magnificent place of all the earth where there is a perfect temprature a pure and a delicate ayre and the plants continually greene fragrant it is alwayes replenished with sweet and odoriferous sauours a light most cleere and a beauty aboue mans vnderstanding a place truly onely fitte to be inhabited of him that was created to the image likenes of God himselfe LVD S. Iohn differeth not much in the situation and qualities hereof from the opinion of the others before alleadged but passe on I pray you with your discourse AN. Well be then attentife a while Venerable Bede handling this matter sayth Earthly Paradise is a place most delightfull beautified with a great abundance of fruitfull trees refreshed with a goodly fountaine The situation thereof is in the oryentall parts the ground of which is so high that the water of the flood could not ouer-reach the same and thys opinion holdeth Strabo the Theologian affirming that the height of the earth where Paradise is reacheth to the circle of the Moone through which cause it was not damnified by the flood the waters of which could not rise to the height thereof Those which follow this opinion might better conforme themselues with Origen who iudgeth that all this which is written of Paradise must bee taken allegorically and that it is not situate on the earth but in the third heauen whether S. Paule was lyfted in Spirit but leauing him because hee is alone in his opinion without hauing any that followeth him let vs returne to our alleaged Authors against whō S. Thomas and Scotus argue saying that Paradise can by no meanes reach vnto the circle of the Moone because the Region of the fire beeing in the midst the earth can by no meanes passe thorough the same without being burnt destroyed Besides this there are many other reasons sufficient to refute this opinion for so shold those Riuers which come from Paradise passe through the region of the fire which the contrariety of the two Elements being considered is absurd and besides if this ground vvere so high it could not chuse but be seene a farre of from manie parts of the world aswell by sea as by land and by this means also there should be a place in the worlde by the vvhich it seemes a man might goe vp into heauen so that this opinion is grounded vpon small reason and easie to be confuted Many other Authors there are which affirme Paradise to be in so high a part of the earth that the water of the Deluge could not reach vnto the top thereof to anoy it and to the obiection which may be made against them out of Moises which sayth that the waters thereof couered and ouerflowed the height of xv cubits all Mountaines vnder the vniuersall heauen they aunswer that these Mountaines are to be vnderstood such as are vnder the region of the Ayre where the clowdes are thickned and ingendered for Heauen is meant many times in the holy Scripture by this region as the royall Psalmist saith The foules of heauen the fishes of the Sea Where by this word heauen is vnderstoode the region of the ayre thorough which the birds flie so that according to their opinion the mount or place where Paradise is exceedeth is aboue this region of the ayre where there is neither blustering of winds nor gathering of cloudes so that it could not be endomaged by the waters of the flood This is the selfe same of which we discoursed yesterday as touching the mountains Olympus Athos Atlas that of Luna which in height according to the opinion of many exceedeth all the rest on the earth and many other like mountaines in the world ouer whose tops there is neither raine wind nor clowdes the ashes lying from one yere to another vnmooued because that the height of their tops exceedeth the midle region of the ayre pierceth thither where it is still pure without any mouing But S. Thomas also argueth this not to be tru saying that it is no conuenient place for Paradise to stand in the midst of the region of the ayre neither could it beeing there haue such qualities conditions as are necessary because the winds and waters would distemper it LU. This shold be so if it were in the midst of the region but you your selfe say that it passeth farder where the winds waters haue no force to worke any distemprature AN. If not the winds waters thē the fire wold work it for the farder it shooteth beyond the region of the ayre the neerer it approcheth the region of the fire BE. You speak against you self for yesterday you said that the city Acroton builded on the top of the mountain Athos being in the superior region of the ayre enioyed a singuler temperature AN. You say tru but things are not to be
Generall flood it should be destroyed and ouerthrowne the selfe same consideration may serue for this of the Riuers not without proofes very euident and agreeable to reason for if it were destroyed with the Flood euen as it pleased God to permit the vndooing thereof so would hee also ordayne that all signes and markes of the same shoulde cease to the end that the peoples dwelling in the prouinces and borders thereabout shoulde haue no knowledge at all thereof that it should be no longer necessary for the Cherubin to remaine in garde thereof with a fierie Sworde as till that time hee had done But before wee come to handle the principall causes you shall vnderstande that there are some who holde opinion that all these foure Riuers rise neere the Land of Heden and come to ioyne in the same Leauing therefore a part Tygris and Euphrates because that of them seemeth in a manner verified as for Ganges the course therof is not so contrarie but that it may well meete where the other riuers doe and that any inconuenience eyther of lownes or highnes of the earth might bee sufficient to diuert or to cause the same to runne where it now doth But this is an argument that neyther concludeth nor carrieth any reason withall As for the Riuer Nilus they goe another way to worke saying that it is not the same which in the holy Scripture is called Fison for there are two Ethiopias say they the one in Affrica which is watred with Nilus the other in the West Indies in Asia beginning from the coast of Arabia folowing along the coast of the Ocean sea towards the East the which may be vnderstood by the holy Scriptures who call those of the Lande of Madian neere to Palestina Ethiopians Sephora also that was wife to Moises beeing natiue of that region was called Ethiopesse And with this agreeth a Glosse written in the margen of Caetano his discourse vppon thys matter by Anthonio de Fonseca a Frier of Portugall and a man very learned so that Fison may well be some Riuer of these which watereth this Country first discending by the Lande of Heden comming from the same to enter into the Ocean as Tygris and Euphrates and many other deepe riuers doe in the same maner may it be coniectured that Gion should bee some one of these riuers the one and the other through antiquity hauing lost theyr names and that it is not knowne because it cannot perfectly be prooued whether of these two Ethiopias is meant by the holy Scripture Aueneza saith it is a thing notorious that the Riuer Gion was not far from the Land of Israell according to that which is written in the third booke of Kings Thou shalt carry it into Gion although there be other Authors that vnderstande not Gion to be a Riuer but to be the Lake Siloe or else a Spring so called If that Gion were Ganges it is manifest that it runneth not so neere vnto Israel as it is heere said S. Isidore entreating of this matter sayeth that the Riuer called Araxes commeth out of Paradise which opinion is also maintained by Albertus Magnus Procopius writeth of another Riuer called Narsinus whose streame issueth from thence neere to the Riuer Euphrates some thinke that these are Gion and Fison though at this time their waters runne not through the same Lands These are the opinions of Ecclesiasticall Doctors labouring to discusse and sift out the truth of this secret But leauing them all I will tell you my opinion partly agreeing with Eugubinus and his followers that when it pleased God to drowne the whole worlde in time of the Patriarch Noe with a vniuersall flood mounting according to the sacred Text fifteene cubits in height aboue all the mountaines of the earth the same must of necessity make and vnmake change alter and ouerturne many things raysing valleyes abating mountaines altering the Deserts discouering many parts of the earth vnseene before and couering drowning many Citties and Regions which from thence forth remained vnder the water ouerwhelmed in the Sea or couered with Ponds and Lakes as we know that which without the flood happened to Sodome and Gomorrha with the rest which after they were burnt did sinke with them And we see oftentimes in the swelling and ouerflowing of great Riuers whole Countries drowned and made like vnto a Sea yea and sometimes mighty Riuers to lose their wonted passage and turne and change their course another way farre different from the first If I say the violent impetuosity of one onely riuer suffice to worke these effects What shall we then thinke was able to doe the incomparable fury and terrible swinging rage of the generall and vniuersall flood In the which as the same Text sayth all the Fountaines and Springs of the earth were broken vp by their bottomes and all the Conduits of heauen were opened that there might want no water eyther aboue or beneath If then the Springs so brake vp it could not be but that some of them were changed and passed into other places different from those in which they were before theyr streames scouring along through contrary wayes and veines of the earth In like manner might it happen to those which entered into terestriall Paradise issued forth to water those Lands named in the holy Text which eyther through the falling downe of huge mountaines and rocky hills or filling vp of lowe valleyes might be constrained to turne their streames farre differently to their former course or else by the permission and will of GOD which would haue vs to be ignorant of this secrete they changed their Springs and issues by hiding and shutting them selues in the bowels of the earth and running through the same many thousand miles and at last came to rush forth in other parts farre distant from those where they were before neyther passed they onely vnder a great quantity of Lands enhabited and vninhabited but the very Sea also whom they hold for mother Spring whence they proceede hideth them vnder her to the ende that they might returne to issue foorth where they were not knowne or if through some cause they were it should be vnto our greater admiration and meruaile as now it is Neyther wonder you at all if the generall flood wrought so great a mutation in the world for there haue not wanted graue men who affirme that the whole world before the time of the flood was plaine and leuell without any hill or valley at all and that by the waters thereof were made the diuersities of high and lowe places and the seperation of Ilands from firme Land And if these reasons suffice not let euery man thinke heerein what shall best agree with his owne fancy for in a mistery so doubtfull and secrete we may as well misse as hit and so S. Augustine thinking this to be a secret which God would not haue knowne but reserues it to himselfe saith that no
and ho through pure feare made her to confesse it but on such condition that hee should forgiue her and neuer disclose word thereof to anie man liuing therupon reuealing vnto him all the secret misteries of her wicked and damnable science which her husband hearing began to enter into a great desire to see the manner of theyr meetings whereupon beeing agreed to goe together the selfe same night after shee had craued leaue of sathan to admit her husband they both anoynted them selues and were carryed to the wicked assembly and place of their execrable and pestiferous delights The man after hauing gazed about him awhile diligently beheld all that passed sate himselfe downe at a table with the rest furnished with sundry and diuers sorts of daintie meates to the eye seeming delicate and good but in proofe of a very sowre and vnpleasant tast of which when he had prooued diuers finding them all to be of a most vnfauorie relish he began to call for salt because there was none at all vpon the table but seeing the bringing of the same delayd he began to be more importunat in crauing it at last one of the deuils to please him set a salt-seller on the table but hee beeing vnmindfull of his vviues admonishment which vvas that hee shoulde there in no wise speake any word that vvere good holie seeing the salt come at last after so long calling for God blesse vs quoth he I thought it would neuer haue come which word he had no sooner spoken but all that euer was there vanished away with a most terrible noyse tempest leauing him for a great while in a traunce out of which so soone as he came to himselfe recouering his spirits sence hee founde himselfe naked in a field amongst certaine hilles where walking vp and downe in great sadnes and anguish of spirit so soone as the day came hee met with certaine Sheepheards o whom demaunding what country the same vvas he perceiued by theyr aunswere that he was aboue a hundred miles from his owne house to which with much a doe making the best shift he could at last he returned and made relation of all this which you haue heard before the Inquisitors whereupon his wife and diuers others whō he accused were apprehended arraigned found guihie and burnt AN. I am gladde that you were put in minde to recite this history which truly is very strange though I haue often reade and heard of the like for that which concerneth this kind of people is no new matter but very auncient Many very old Authours write much of them and of Witches Negromancers and Enchaunters no lesse pestilent and pernitious to humaine kinde then these others sith leauing to be men they became to be deuils in their works of which sort there haue beene very many famous or rather infamous in the world as Zoroastes Lucius Apuleius Apolonius Tyaneus and many others of whom there is now no knowledge or memory because Historiographers haue not vouchsafed to write of thē as men not worthy to be commended to the posterity as for this our time the number of them is the more the pitty too great which though they professe the faith of Christ yet they are not ashamed to confederate themselues with the deuill and to doe their works in the name of Belzebub as the Pharisies sayd of our Sauiour and for a small contentment in this worlde make no account of the perdition of theyr soules though for the greatest part also they neuer enioy heere any great prosperity or euer come to any good successe for commonly their confederate the deuill bringeth them to a shamefull end procuring the discouery of their wickednes and so consequently punishment for the same which if one amongst twenty here escapeth yet in the other world he is assured perpetually to fry in the fire of hell But leauing these let vs now come to another sort of them who handle the matter in such sort that they wil scarcely be knowne what they are these are Charmers the which as it seemeth haue a perticuler gift of God to heale the biting of mad dogs to preserue people cattell from being endomaged by them These as they say are known in that they haue the wheele of S. Katherin in the roof of their mouth or in som other part of their body who thogh in my iudgement it cannot be denied but that they doe great help in such like things yet to heare their prayers coniurations grosse clownish phrases would moue a man to laughter though they to whō they vse them seeme to recouer therby their health AN. This is a strange people but truly this gift or vertue of theirs is much to be doubted of seeing for the most part as Frier Franciscus de Victoria saith they are base forlorne people of ill example in their life somtimes such as boast make their vaunts of more thē they can accomplish and I haue heard that some of them wil creepe into a red hot Ouen without danger of burning BE. I cannot think that any man hath particuler grace to doe this but rather that he doth it by the help in the name of the deuil LV. No doubt but many of them doe so though there are also som to whom God hath imparted particuler graces and vertues as those of whom Pliny writeth alleaging the authority of Crates Pergamenus that there is in Hellespont a kind of men called Ophrogens who with only touching heale the wounds made by serpents vpon which imposition of their hands they presently purge cast out auoid all the poyson venom with which they are infected and Varro saith that in the same Country there are men which with their spettle heale the biting of Serpents and it may be that these were all one people Isigonus and Nimphodorus affirme that there is in Affrica a certaine people whose sight causeth all those things to perrish vpon which it is intentiuely fixed so that the very trees wither and the children die there-with The selfe same Isigonus sayeth that in the Country of the Tribals and Ilyrians there is a certaine kind of people which in beholding any one with frowning eyes if they detaine their sight any while vpon them doe cause them to die and Solinus writeth the like of certayne vvomen among the Scythians Pirrhus King of Epyrotes as Plutarch testifieth in his lyfe had such vertue in the greate toe of his right foote that vvho so euer had a sore mouth if hee touched him there-with was helped presentlie and some Authors vvrite that hee healed also many other infirmities there-vvith As for the King of Fraunce it is a thing notorious to all menne that hee hath a particuler grace and vertue in healing the Lamparones or Kinges Euill and it may bee that as GOD hath imparted these graces to many and sundry kindes of people so also may hee endue some of these menne of vvhich wee
only extended to the attaining of some meane office sufficient for his maintenance contrary to his expectation the Pope made him some Cardinall or great Prelate so that wee may very well terme him Fortunate the like may be said of one that going with Horses or Oxen to tyl a peece of ground turneth vp a stone by Chaunce vnder which he findeth hidden some great treasure and there-with enricheth himselfe This mans intention and purpose was to tyll that ground and not to seeke for any treasure in finding of which we may say that he was fauoured of Fortune But because the examples of such thinges as haue truly indeede passed may be better vnderstoode we may say that the Emperour Claudius was very fortunate because Caligula being slaine and hee also fearing to be killed in that fury and vprore of the people for that he was his neere kindsman as hee peeped out of a corner of the house wherein he lay hidden to see how the world went was espied of a Souldiour who knowing him and running towards him Claudius cast himselfe downe at his feete humbly beseeching him to saue his life in which his miserable desperation the Souldiour bad him be of good courage and voide of feare saluting him by the name of Emperour and presently being brought foorth before the other Souldiours he was established and confirmed in his Predicessours roome so that heerein was Fortune fauourable vnto him for his peeping out of the corner wherein he lurked quaking for feare vvas with purpose to discouer if the coast were cleare and to saue his life it happened thereby accidentally vnto him that he was chosen and elected Emperour The like may be vnderstood in matters of aduersity as if one goe to the Court with purpose to serue the King and by his seruice to obtaine such fauour at his hands that he may thereby come to be rewarded with some rich estate or dignity and it falleth out so vnhappily with him that hee come in a quarrell to kill a man and thereby to loose all his substance wee may say that Fortune was aduerse and contrary vnto him or if a man walking wiâ—h his friend in the streete a tyle fall from the house and breake his head hee may iustly say that his Fortune was ill for both the one and the other happened by accident and not according to the purpose and meaning which they had And if you would haue an example contrary to this former see but what happened to Caligula the Predicessour of Claudius who going out of his house to solace himselfe in the Towne and to see certaine youthfull tryumphs and pastimes of yong Gentlemen of Rome was murdered by some that had conspired his death The purpose hee had was to recreate himselfe and to see those pastimes or rather as Suetonius Tranquillus sayeth to digest his last nights supper hauing his stomacke somwhat ouercharged and it happened accidentallie vnto him when he thought least thereof that he was slaine so that his Fortune may well be termed aduerse and contrary These matters also we may in generall call Chaunce because they chaunced without any such purpose meaning or intention and likewise Fortune because they happened to men hauing reason vnderstanding to make choise of one thing from another but if a Grayhound running after a Hare or any other Beast coursing vp and downe the fieldes should strike his foote vpon a thorne and become lame this cannot be properly called Fortune but Chaunce LU. Afore you passe any farther I would faine know why you say that these accidents are not to be termed Fortune in vnreasonable Creatures grounding your selfe therein because they haue not reason or vnderstanding to make election of one thing from another seeing in many Beasts wee see by experience many times the contrary as for example the Grayhound in seeing the Hare hath vnderstanding to follow her and meaning to catch her and I haue seene some that if theyr Maisters bee not present carry them vp and downe in theyr mouthes till they finde him besides the setting dogge when he seeth the Patriches standeth still and some make a signe to their Maisters with theyr foote to the ende that hee should shoote at them which they could neuer doe vnlesse they had an vnderstanding and purpose to haue those Patriches killed Besides what shall we say of those thinges which the Elephant doth vnderstanding obeying and executing those thinges which his Gouernour commaundeth him Marke also well the prankes and dooings of Apes and you shall finde in them so strange an imitation of man that they seeme by signes to manifest that they want nothing but speech and therefore me thinks that the definition of Fortune of which you spake may as well be applied to these Beastes as that of Chaunce seeing they haue such vse of vnderstanding AN. I confesse all that which you haue sayde to bee true marry that which is in these Beasts is not nor may not be called reason or vnderstanding but an instinct of Nature which moueth and leadeth them to doe that which they doe for all Beasts are not created for one effect but as their effects are diuers so are also their conditions and instincts hauing causes that carry with them perpetually a certaine limitted order agreement and this opinion is by all the Philosophers confirmed particulerly Aristotle in his third booke De Anima and all those that glosse vpon his text affirmeth that the brute Beastes are led and guided by a naturall instinction and appetite without hauing any reason or vnderstanding at all in those things which they doe LV. Your aunswer hath not so satisfied me but that I remaine as yet in some part doubtfull for howe can it be that the Elephant should so behaue himselfe in battaile fighting and carrying a Tower of Armed men vpon his backe wholy ruling and directing himselfe by his commaunders voyce vnlesse he were endued with vnderstanding for the commaundement is no sooner out of his Gouernors mouth but he presently executeth the same Besides we see that Beares in many things which they doe seeme not to be without the vse of vnderstanding they wrestle with men without hurting them they leap daunce conformably to the sound that is made vnto them the experience of this we haue all seene I particulerly haue seene one play vpon a Flute which though he could not distinguish the notes by measure yet he made a cleare distinct sound but all this is nothing in respect of that which we see done by dogs They aunswer to their names when they are called in all dangers they accompany assist their Maisters neither want they a kinde of pride presumption and disdaine as Solinus writeth of those which are bred in the Country of Albania who are so passing fierce and cruell that as he saith two of them were presented by a King of that country to great Alexander wheÌ„ he passed thereby towards
notorious as are these mountaines being situated in a Country of Christians or at least confining there-vpon for the Country where the Auncients desribing them is nowe called Muscouia hardly can they write truly of other thinges which are farther off and in Countries of which we haue not so great knowledge as wee haue of this But turning to that which we entreated of I say that those thinges can hardly be verified which are written by the Auncients concerning these Northern Lands not so much for the small notice we haue of them as for that the names are altered of Kingdoms Prouinces Citties mountaines and Riuers in such sort that it is hard to know which is the one and which is the other for you shall scarcely finde any one that retaineth his olde name and though by signes and coniectures wee hit right vpon some of thē yet it is impossible but that we should erre in many in taking one for another the experience wherof we may see here in our owne Country of Spayne the principall townes of which are by Ptolomie and Plinie vvhich write particulerly of them called by names to vs now vtterlie vnknowne neyther doe we vnderstand which is which they are so altred changed So fareth it with the auncient Geography which though there be many that do practise vnderstand according to the antique yet if you aske them many things according to that now in vre with the moderns so are things in these our times altered and innouated they cannot yeeld you a reason thereof if they doe it shall be such that thereout will result greater doubts But leauing this I will as touching the Lands of which we entreate conclude with that which some Historiographers of our time haue made mention namely Iohan. Magnus Gothus Albertus Cranzius Iohan. Saxo Polonius Muscouita and chiefely Olaus Magnus Archbishop of Vpsala of whō we haue made heere before often mention who in a Chronicle of those lands of the North the particularities of them though beeing borne and brought vp in those Regions should seeme to haue great knowledge of such thinges as are in the same yet is he meruailous briefe cōcerning that which is vnder the same Pole He saith that there is a Prouince called Byarmia whose Orizon is the Equinoctiall circle it selfe and as this circle deuideth the heauen in the midst so vvhen the Sunne declineth to this part of the Pole the day is halfe a yeere long and when he turneth to decline on the side of the other Pole he causeth the contrary effect the night enduring as much This Prouince of Byarmya deuideth it selfe into two parts the one high and the other low in the lower are many hills perpetually couered with Snow neuer feeling any warmth yet in the valleys below there are many Woods and Fields full of hearbes and pastures and in them great aboundance of wild Beasts and high swelling Riuers as well through the Springs whence they rise as through the Snow that tumbleth downe from the hills In the higher Byarmya he saith there are strange and admirable nouelties to enter into which there is not any knowne way for the passages are all closed vp to attempt through which hee termeth it a danger and difficulty insuperable so that no man can come to haue knowledge thereof without the greatest ieopardy that may possibly be deuised or imagined For the greater part of the way is continually couered with deepe Snow by no meanes passable vnlesse it be vpon Beasts like vnto Stags called Rangifery so abounding in those Regions that many doe nourish and tame them Their lightnes though it seeme incredible is such that they runne vpon the frozen Snow vnto the top of high hills downe againe into the deepe Valleyes Iohn Saxon saith that there was a King of Swethland called Hatherus who being aduertised that there dwelt in a Valley betweene those mountaines a Satire called Memingus that possessed infinite riches with many other resolute men in his company all mounted vpon Rangifers domesticall Onagres made a Roade into his Valley and returned laden with rich and inestimable spoiles BER Was he a right Satire indeede or else a man so called AN. The Author explaneth it not but by that which he saith a little after that in that Country are many Satires Faunes we may gather that hee was a right Satire and that the Satires are men of reason and not vnreasonable creatures according to our disputation the other day and in a Country full of such nouelties such a thing as this is not to be wondred at But returning to our commenced purpose I say that this superiour Byarmya of which Olaus Magnus speaketh to vs so vnknowne by all likelyhoode should be that blessed soile mentioned by Pliny Soline Pomponius Mela whose Clymate is so temperate whose ayre so wholesome and whose enhabitants doe liue so long that they willingly receaue death by casting themselues into the Sea of which Land being so meruailous and being as it seemeth seated on the farther side of the Pole the properties are not so particulerly knowne and so he saith that there are many strange people nouelties and wonders But leauing this comming to the lower Olaus saith that the Valleyes thereof if they were sowed are very apt and ready to bring foorth fruite but the enhabitants doe not giue themselues to tillage because the fieldes and Forrests are replenished with Beasts the Riuers with Fishes so that with hunting and fishing they maintaine their lyues hauing no vse of bread neyther scarcely knowledge thereof When they are at warre or difference with any of their neighbours they sildom vse Armes for they are so great Negromancers Enchaunters that with wordes onely when they list they will make it raine thunder and lighten so impetuously as though heauen and earth should goe together and with their Witchcraftes and Charmes they binde and entangle men in such sort that they bereaue them of all power to doe them any harme yea and many times of their sences also and lyues making them to dye mad Iohn Saxon writeth that there was once a King of Denmarke called Rogumer who purposing to subdue the Byarmyans went against them with a mighty and puissant Army which they vnderstanding had recourse to no other defence then to their Enchantments raising such terrible tempests winds and waters that through the violent fury thereof the Riuers ouerflowed and became vnpassable vpon which of a sodaine they caused such an vnkindly heat that the King and all his Army were fryed almost to death so that the same was farre more greeuous to suffer then the cold and through the distemperature and corruption thereof there ensued such a mortality that the King was forced to returne but he knowing that this happened not through the nature of the Land but through coniuration and sorcerie came vpon them another time so sodainly that hee was amongst them
God LV. Remember you not what Esay saith in his 14. Cha. speaking to Lucifer It was thou saith he that saidst in thy hart I wil mount vp into heauen put my chaire vpon the starrs and seate my selfe on the hill of the testament in the sides and corners of the wind Circius or Aquilon BE. These authorities haue many interpretations but howsoeuer it be sure it is that there is in these Northerne parts an infinite number of Sorcerers Witches Enchaunters and Negromancers AN. Those of the Prouinces of Biarmia Scrifinia Finland with many other bordering Regions doe as the cōmon fame goeth for the most part all exercise Negromancie chiefly those of Filandia and Laponia which they vaunt to haue learned of Zorastes To such as sailed to their country for traffiques sake and had the wind contrary at their departure they vsed to sell for mony or merchandize such so cōmodious wind as they themselues desired They vsed to knit in a cord three knots of which vndoing the one there followed presently a moderate wind out of what Coast so euer they desired vndoing the second the wind began to bluster somwhat more furiously but vpon the losing of the third there arose such raging stormes and tempests that the shippes miscaried oftentimes and were drowned And therfore such strangers as traffiqued thither procured to entertaine friendship with them imagining their happy and vnhappy successe the raging and calmenes of the Sea to be at their pleasure and disposition for in this the deuils were to them in great subiection and obedience Besides when any man desired to know news frō forraine parts there were amongst thē diuers that would vndertake to giue them true aduertisements of such things as they required to know being wel paid for their paines They enclosed thēselues into a chamber taking with them their wiues or som other person whō they especially trusted then smiting vpon a figure of mettall which they kept made in fashion of a Toade or Serpent after whispering some words making certaine signes they fell downe groueling on the ground in a traunce most straightly charging and enioyning him or her that stoode by to take great heed that no flye vermine or beast should touch them while they so continued Returning to themselues they aunswered to such thinges as they were enquired of so truly that they were neuer found to be false in any one point And this they publiquely vsed till they receaued the faith of our Sauior Christ since which if they vse the same it is with great secrecie and most seuerely punished if it be knowne There are as yet in certaine Prouinces that confine vpon them and are somewhat neerer vnto vs many notable Negromancers famous by the writing of many Authors Amongst the rest there was euen almost in our time Henry king of Swethland who had the deuils so ready and obedient at his commaundement that he caused presently the wind to turne and change into what part so euer hee pointed with his cap in so much that of the common people he was called by no other name then Windy Bonet He had a Sonne in lawe called Reyner King of Denmarke who conquered on the Sea coast many Countries by force of Armes neuer at any time hauing contrary wind when hee went to Seaward beeing therein by his Father in law alwayes assisted to whom hee succeeded afterwards also in the Kingdome of Swethland Many write of a woman called Agaberta daughter of a Gyant in those Septentrionall Lands whose name was Vagonostus that she was so skilfull in Negromancie that she sildome suffered her selfe to be seene in her proper figure somtimes she would resemble an old withered wrinkled Crone sometimes a most beautifull and goodly Mayden somtimes she would seeme so feeble and faint and yellow of colour as though shee had beene consumed with a long and languishing Ague another time she would be so high that her head should seeme to reach vnto the clouds changing when she listed with such facility her shape as did Vrgand the vnknown of which old fables make such mention the strange force of her enchauntments was such that she could darken the Sun Moone Starres leuell high Mountaines and make plaine champaine of sauage Deserts pull trees vp by the rootes and dry vp running Riuers with many the like as though shee had had all the deuills of hell ready at a beck to fulfill her commaundements The like is written of an other called Grace of Norway Yffrotus the mighty King of Gothland and Swethland walking for recreation along the Sea-shore was runne at by a Cow and hurt with her hornes in such sort that hee died presently vpon the same afterward it came to be knowne and proued that the same Cowe was a Witch disguised in that forme which for some griefe conceaued against the King had vsed that reuenge vpon him There was one called Hollerus so incredibly surpassing the rest in this detestable Science that the common people supposed him to be more then a mortall man honoured him as a God though at length they founde theyr error for notwithstanding his fained immortalitie his heade was cut off and his body torne in peeces by his enemies for commonly the deuill though hee helpe them for a while yet euer in the end he leaueth them in the myre Othinus which was held for one of the greatest Negromancers that euer was brought Hadignus king of Denmark to his kingdom out of farre Countries into which he was banished on horsebacke or rather on the deuils backe behind him through thicke and thinne yea and ouer the Sea it selfe bringing it by his Enchauntments so to passe that the King was receaued established in his gouernment afterwardes in a battaile against Haruinus King of Norway he caused such a clowdie showre of hayle to strike on the face of his enemies that not enduring the violence thereof and beeing on the other side furiously charged by the Danes they turned theyr backs were discomfited But it were time lost to entreate any farder of this people beeing the deuils disciples dwelling and dailie dealing so familiarly with them There are amongst them often seene visions and Spirits deluding those that trauaile appearing to them in likenes of some of theyr knowne friends and suddainly vanishing away so that the deuill seemeth to haue in those Septentrionall Countries greater dominion more libertie then in other parts LV. I remember that I haue read a certaine Author which among many strange and wonderfull thinges wryteth that there is in a certaine part of these Lands a mountaine enuironed round about with the Sea vnlesse it be of one side where it hath onely a very narrow and little entry so that it seemeth in manner to be an Iland the toppe thereof is couered with trees so thicke and high that a farre of they seeme to touch the Clowdes There is within the same
the commoditie rising to which through the aboundance of Duckes is so great that I cannot ouerslip the same There is neere this Towne a mighty great and craggy Rocke to which at breeding time these Fowles come flocking in such quantities troupes that in the ayre they resemble mightie darke clowdes rather then any thing else The first two or three dayes they doe nothing else then houer aloofe and flie vp and downe about the Rocke during which time the people is so still and quiet that they scarcely styrre out of theyr houses for feare of fraying them so that seeing all things silent and still they settle themselues boldlie and fill the whole Rock with nests Their sight is so sharpe and pearcing that flittering ouer the sea which beateth vpon the same Rock they see the fish through the water which incontinentlie plunging themselues into the same they snappe vp vvith such facilitie that it is scarcely to be beleeued but of him that hath seene it Those that dwell neere thereabouts and know the passages and wayes to get vp into this Rock do not onelie sustaine themselues by the fishe which they finde in the nestes of theyr young ones but carry thē also to other townes to sell. When they perceaue that the young ones are ready to flie to enioy this cōmoditie of the fish the longer they pluck theyr wings and entertaine them so many dayes as men vse to doe young ones of Eagles and then when the ordinarie time approcheth in which they vse to take theyr flight away they take and eate them theyr flesh being very tender and of good smack These Ducks differ much frō al the other sorts and are neuer seene in that Region but at such time as they breed euen as the Storkes are in Spaine though they kill many of them yet the next yere they neuer faile to come as many as the rock can hold Their fat greace is much esteemed applied to many medecines in which it is founde to be of meruailous operation vertue There are ouer al these Northerne Regions many other fowles farre different from these which we haue heere the varietie of whose kinds seeing they haue no notable perticuler property or vertue it were in vaine to recite And though as I said the Climat be cold yet there are founde many kindes of Serpents of such as are wont commonly to breede in hote Landes There are Aspes three or foure cubites long whose poyson is so strong and vehement that whosoeuer is bitten by one of them dieth within the space of foure or fiue howres if he haue not presentlie such remedy as is requisite which is Treakle of Venice if they haue it if not they stampe a head of Garlick and mingle the iuyce thereof with olde Beere giuing it the patient to drinke and withall stamping another head of Garlicke they apply it to the place bitten These Aspes are so cruell and fierce that in assayling any man they stretch out theyr head with great fiercenesse a cubite aboue the earth and in finding resistance they dart out of theyr throates an infinite quantitie of poyson and venom whose pestilent contagion is such that whosoeuer is touched therewith swelleth and dyeth as I sayde if hee be not presently remedied There are other Serpents called Hyssers whose cheefe abyding is among herbes that are hore and dry They runne exceedingly swiftly but they are easie to be auoyded because the noyse and hyssing they make is so great that they are heard and descried a farre of and thereby easily shunned and auoyded They vse to giue a leape tenne or twelue foote high when they cast out theyr venome the nature of which is such that if it fall vpon any mens garments it burneth them like fire hauing doone which they run presentlie away Theyr poyson representeth to our sight sundry and strange colours There is another kinde of Serpent whom they call Amphisbosna hauing two heads one in the due place annother in the tayle they goe and turne aswell one way as another doe appeare are seene as well in cold weather as in warme Gaudencius Merula vvryteth that there are manie of these in Italie and other parts In the Spring-time there are found at the feete of Oakes and other trees many little Serpents which haue a cheefe Ruler or King amongst them as the Bees haue by whom they are gouerned Hee is knowne amongst all the rest because hee hath a vvhite crest which if it happen that he be killed the whole Armie of them presently breaketh and scattereth All these and many other Serpents which are there are so as it were enameled with sundry bright and glistring colours that they arrest often the eyes of the beholders as vpō a most beautifull worke of Nature neyther doe they onely liue on dry Lande but there are also of them about the Sea liuing both within without the same feeding vpon fish nothing lesse hurtfull then the rest of this kind there is at this present one most notable of wonderfull greatnes in the prouince of Borgia which is within the limits of the Kingdome of Norway whose terrible shape crueltie and horrour is such that there were doubt to be made thereof vnlesse it were by the testimony of many witnesses which haue seene him confirmed In the place vvhere hee lyueth are certaine Rockie Mountaines rough and verie high both Seaward and Landward couered in many places with desert thickets and wilde bushes and trees Heere was bred this horrible dreadfull and deformed monster whose length according to the gesse of those which haue seene his manner making and proportion is aboue two hundred cubites his breadth from the backe to the bellie at least 25. from the neck downward to the fourth part of his body he is full of great haires at least a cubit long apeece from thence downeward he is bare and plaine except his loynes which are couered with certaine great sharp scales or rather shelles His eyes are so bright and shining that by night they seeme to be flames of fire so that by them he is easie to be discouered a farre off at such time as hee rangeth abroade to seeke his pray which is commonly of Oxen sheep Hogges Stagges and other Beastes both wilde tame such as he can find but if in the woods and fieldes he cannot light of enough to satisfie his hunger hee getteth him to the Sea-shore and there filleth himselfe with such fish as he can catch If any ships chaunce to approch neere that shore eyther by tempest or ignorance he putteth himselfe presently into the water and maketh amaine at them hee hath beene seene at times to reare himselfe of an exceeding height aboue the decke and to take men out of the shippe with his teeth and to swallow thē in a liue a thing truely to be spoken or heard full of amazement terror what is it then to them that find themselues
earth A great ignorance of the ancient Commendador is a Knight of some crosse as that of Malta or S. Iames. Antypodes S. Austins opinion touching Antypodes Lactantius Firmianus opinion Pliny touching the same Who are the right Antypodes Perioscaei Amphioscaei Ethoroscaei The whole world is enhabitable The Polar Zones enhabited * Ireland Ptolome ignorant in many countries nowe knowne Plin lib. 4 Cap. 12. The happy soyle of the Hyperborians Solinus touching the Hyperboreans Pom. Mela touching the Hyperboreans The signification of Pterophoras and Hyperbore * 〈…〉 Iacobus Ziglerus of the Northerne parts Nature hath prouided a remedy to euery mischiefe Thule is the same which we now call Iseland The prouinces of Pilapia and Vilapia Pigmees The Bachiler Encisus concerning the length of the dayes and nights towards the Poles The diuersity of the rysing and setting of the sun between vs and those that lyue neere or vnder the Poles An example whereby it is proued that it can neuer be very dark vnder the Poles What thys Word Orizon signifieth Whether all those parts be enhabited or no. Pyla Pylanter Euge Velanter Wild Beasts like vnto white Beares which digge vp the Ice with their nailes A league is three miles Pigmaei Ictiophagi * Island The Prouince of Agonagora Lande yet vnknowne 1650. leagues of the world yet vndiscouered The answer of a boy of Seuilla The shippe called Victoria compassed the world round about Indians driuen by storme into the Norths Sea Fictions of Sylenus to King Mydas out of Aelianus The Citty of Machino The Citty of Euaesus Meropes Anostum The Riuer of delight The Riuer of griefe Iohan Zyglerus Sigismund Herberstain The names of the most part of Prouinces and Regions are changed The Prouince of Byarmya deuided into two parts Wild Beasts like vnto Stags called Rangeferi Hatherus King of Swethland Wild Asses The lower Byarmya In steede of Armes they vse Enchantments Rogumer King of Denmark Finmarchia or Finlande Nature hath ordained a remedy against all inconueniences Things to which men are accustomed becom naturall vnto theÌ„ in time Custome is another nature Adams hill There is nowe no known part of the world out of which the worshipping of auncien feyned Gods is not banished A North North Westerne wind The Snowe on the mouÌ„taines neere the South-pole is blewish of colour like vnto the Skie The song of the Nightingale exceedeth that of all other birdes in sweetnes Birds vnderstand the cal one of another It is written of Apollonius Tyaneê° that he vnderstood the singing of Birdes A pretty iest Birdes or Beasts haue no vse of reason at all The disagreement of writers touching the description situation of Countries Diuersity of writers touching the Scithians Sundry Gyants of wonderfull force puissance North North-westerne wind The strange violence of the tempests in the Northern countries Certaine warlike pastimes that their young men vse Troupes of horsemen skirmishing and fighting vpon frozen Lakes Disa queene of Swethland The white Lake The Lake Vener The Lake Meler Zhe Lake Veher A strange History of a Negromancer The force of enchantments cannot any longer prolong life then the time by God fixed appointed The deuils haue greater liberty in the Northerne Lands theÌ„ in other parts Henry King of Swethland a famous Negromancer Reyner King of Denmark Agaberta a notable Sorceresse Grace of Norway Ifrotus K. of Gothland slaine by a Witch Hollerus a Negromancer Othinus by his Enchantments restored the K of Denmark to the Crowne A mountain that seemeth to be inhabited of deuills A strange noyse heard in certaine mountaines of Angernamia Vincentius in his Speculo historiali Charibdis The strange propertie of a Caue in the Cittie of Viurgo The ayre somtime inclosed within the frozen lakes in seeking vent maketh a terrible thuÌ„dring and noyse The strange propertie of the lake Vether in thawing A notable chance that hapned to a Gentleman vpon thys Lake by which he saued his lyfe Custome is another nature Tauerns and victualing houses built vpon the sea A strange inuention to slide vpon the Ise. I haue seene in Brabant and 〈◊〉 the Noble meÌ„ vse these kinde of slids very cunously made and gilded they call them Trinâ—aus These are in manner like those aboue said which they call 〈◊〉 The maner of their trauailing vpoÌ„ the Snow Rangifer is a Beast in maner like vnto a Stagge The great coÌ„modities that those Country people receaue of the Rangifers Beasts called Onagri The strange iealousie of the Onagres in Affrica 3. Sorts of Wolues in the Northeren Regions The Neurians doe at somtimes of the yeere transforme themselues into vvolues How the Duke of Muscouia dealt with an Enchanter Howe three young men destroyed a number of vvolues that greatly annoyed the towne wher they lyued Of a man that disfigused himselfe like vnto a Wolfe and did many cruelties in the kingdoÌ„â— of Galicia in Spaine A strange property of their Hares Beastes called Gulones The maner of taking the Gulones Tygers Furre of Martres Lynces The Rams of Gothland Weathers whose taile weyed weyed more theÌ„ one of their quarters A kinde of fish called Monster Henry Falchendor Archbishop of Nydrosia Another kinde of fishes called Fisiters A strange miracle Two sorts of Whales A Whale of admirable greatnes The fish called Orca is enemy to the Whale A strange thing written of the Whale A moÌ„strous fish taken in a Riuer of Germany A fish called Monoceros A fish called Serra which is as much to say as saw in English Another called Xifia Rayas Rosmarus The maner of taking him Sundry fishes like to Horses Oxen c. Dolphins A strangt tale of a Dolphin in S. Domingo Bothnia deuided into 3. prouinces The excellencie of the Climat of North Bothnia It nourisheth no venemous or hurtful beast Byarmya superiour A strange Law in the Kingdome of Chinay Filandia Newcastle belonging to the King of Swethen A strange property of the fish Treuius Rainebirds Snowbirds Faulcons of diuers sorts I take this to be that which wee call heere an Ospray of which I haue seene diuers Sea-Crowes Plateae Duckes Ducks bred of the leaues of a tree in Scotland Geese A Towne in Scotlande that receaueth great commoditie through Duckes Serpents Aspes Hyssers Amphisbosna Serpents that haue a King A huge and terrible Serpent in the prouince of Borgia Sundry cruell Serpents in India A kinde of Trees that in the extremity of the colde Regions retaine all the yeere long their greenenesse Many Christian Regions The magnificent tytles of the Emperour of Russia A Nation called Finns that are in warre with the Muscouites A great part of the world vndiscouered A most tyrannous act of the Duke of Muscouia Tierra del Labrador The Land of Bacallaos Fynland coÌ„uerted to the Christian Fayth The deuotion of the North people